Science-fiction stories and movies are not only entertainment for a rainy day but also mirrors of the scientific abilities, ambitions, even anxieties of a society. A short overview about tales and movies shows this evolution.
The decade of 1950 to 1960, five years after the first war with atomic weapons, was populated by radioactive monsters, awoken from a lost world or created by science gone wrong. The terrestrial monster was often accompanied by extraterrestrial threats, it was not new dealing with ancient horrors, but the Alien will become even more popular with the advancement of special effects in movies.
Finally the last years have shown increased interests in the effects of human society on the planet, movies now deal with climate or environmental change.